Site for Obama's presidential library in Chicago chosen, source says

President Obama's presidential library will be built in the Jackson Park neighborhood of Chicago, a source familiar with the decision-making process confirmed Wednesday to Fox News.

The library at Jackson Park near the University of Chicago on the city's South Side is expected to be a boon to nearby communities struggling with gang violence and unemployment. An official announcement is expected in the coming days.

The Jackson Park location was selected over nearby Washington Park, which also was proposed by the university.

The University of Chicago has said the library and presidential center are expected to attract hundreds of thousands of visitors annually, bringing jobs and millions of dollars to the area.

Jackson Park was the site of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, while Washington Park is a national historic site. Both parks have hundreds of acres and were designed by famed landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted.

Michelle Obama also once worked at the University of Chicago, and the Obamas still maintain a house near campus.

The university's sites were chosen as finalists last year over bids by Columbia University in New York City, the University of Hawaii and the University of Illinois at Chicago.

The president worked as a community organizer on Chicago's South Side, where Michelle Obama grew up. She worked as an administrator at the University of Chicago Medical Center.

The Obamas announced last month that the library would be designed by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects, a New York architectural firm that designed the David Logan Center for the Arts at the University of Chicago.

The Obama Foundation said 140 architecture firms applied to design the library, which is expected to be completed by 2021.